Although Jesse Ventura’s lawsuit against Chris Kyle’s Estate was hyped as a “defamation” trial, $1.3 million of the $1.8 million jury verdict was actually an award for “unjust enrichment.” So, what is unjust enrichment?

In Minnesota one is unjustly enriched if s/he knowingly received or obtained something of value for which s/he in equity and good conscience should pay. And, unlike in a defamation case where damages are based on harm to the plaintiff’s reputation and the plaintiff’s humiliation and embarrassment, damages in an unjust enrichment case are based on the defendant’s profit from his/her wrongful acts.

In the Ventura trial the jurors were instructed to not even consider the unjust enrichment claim unless they first determined that defamation had occurred. Because they found defamation, they were then told to consider: whether the Kyle Estate knowingly received a benefit from the defamatory story; and whether the Estate is not entitled to the benefit received because of circumstances that would make it unjust for it to retain that benefit without compensating Ventura. Because the jury found that unjust enrichment occurred, they were then instructed to award Ventura the amount of money by which they found the Estate had been unjustly enriched.

Defamation and unjust enrichment claims can arise in any employment setting. For example, a supervisor’s false statement about a former employee could lead to a defamation claim. And, an employer’s failure to pay an employee for a benefit the employee provided to the employer could result in an unjust enrichment claim.

The comments posted in this blog are for general informational purposes only. They are not to be considered as legal advice, and they do not establish an attorney-client relationship. For legal advice regarding your specific situation, please consult your attorney.

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July 28, 2014

The first phase of Minnesota’s minimum wage increases will take effect this Friday, August 1, 2014. Starting then, small employers must pay at least $6.50 per hour, and large employers must pay at least $8.00 per hour.

The law also allows for a 90-day training wage and a youth wage, both of which mirror the small employer minimum wage rates. It also includes automatic increases on August 1, 2015 and August 1, 2016, and it allows for inflationary increases starting in 2018.

For minimum wage purposes, state law defines a large employer as any enterprise with an annual gross dollar volume of sales made or business done of $500,000.00 or more. A small employer is any enterprise with an annual gross volume of sales made or business done of less than $500,000.00.

The comments posted in this blog are for general informational purposes only. They are not to be considered as legal advice, and they do not establish an attorney-client relationship. For legal advice regarding your specific situation, please consult your attorney.

President Barack Obama on July 21, 2014 issued an executive order intended to protect the employment rights of LGBT employees of federal contractors.

Although some states, including Minnesota, already prohibit employment discrimination based on sexual orientation, not all do. Therefore, President Obama said during the signing ceremony that he issued the order as a way “to address this injustice for every American.”

Unlike some legislation, such as the proposed Employment Non-Discrimination Act (“ENDA”) which was passed in 2013 by the U.S. Senate but which has since stalled in Congress, this executive order does not contain any exemptions based on religious beliefs.

The President also directed the U.S. Department of Labor to prepare regulations to implement the order. It is anticipated that advocates on all sides of the issue will offer significant input as the regulations are developed.

The comments posted in this blog are for general informational purposes only. They are not to be considered as legal advice, and they do not establish an attorney-client relationship. For legal advice regarding your specific situation, please consult your attorney.

Although Gov. Mark Dayton signed it into law on May 11, 2014 the following key provisions of the Women’s Economic Security Act (WESA) go into effect today:

Expansion of Minnesota’s parenting and pregnancy leave laws: More employees are now eligible for this leave, and the amount of available leave has been increased from six to twelve weeks. Applies to Minnesota employers with 21 or more employees.

Expansion of permissible use of sick leave: Parents-in-law and grandchildren are now included in the list of persons for whom eligible employees may use their sick leave. Employees may also use sick leave for “safety leave,” which is leave for the purpose of providing or receiving assistance because of sexual assault, domestic abuse, or stalking. Applies to Minnesota employers with 21 or more employees.

Wage disclosure prohibitions; employee handbook notice requirement; remedies: Prohibits employers from, among other things, requiring employees to keep their wages confidential. Requires employers to include in their employee handbooks a notice regarding employees’ rights and remedies under the new law. Allows employers to prohibit wage disclosure to competitors and to otherwise protect trade secrets, proprietary and other privileged information. Applies to all Minnesota employers with one or more employees.

Clarifies rights of nursing mothers: Clarifies that when making reasonable efforts to provide a room or other location for expressing breast milk in privacy, that space must: be in close proximity to the work area; be somewhere other than a bathroom or a toilet stall; be shielded from view; be free from intrusion from coworkers and the public; and include access to an electrical outlet. Applies to all Minnesota employers with one or more employees.

This is only a summary of portions of WESA that take effect today. Other provisions of WESA went into effect on May 12, 2014; more will take effect August 1, 2014. To learn how WESA may impact your workplace, please contact me at taj@alexandriamnlaw.com.

The comments posted in this blog are for general informational purposes only. They are not to be considered as legal advice, and they do not establish an attorney-client relationship. For legal advice regarding your specific situation, please consult your attorney.